Khimki follows Shved to skid-snapping win

Khimki Moscow Region said goodbye to its three-game losing streak by outlasting visiting Brose Bamberg by 82-73 at home in the Russian capital on Thursday. The victory broke a tie between the teams, raising Khimki to 6-4 while dropping Brose to 5-5. In its first game since Thomas Robinson was injured, Khimki was boosted by Tyler Honeycutt's 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while making his season debut after an injury of his own. Alexey Shved led the winners with 26 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Anthony Gill followed with 14 points, while James Anderson had 12 and Malcolm Thomas 10. Brose got 21 points from Ricky Hickman, 14 from Bryce Taylor and 13 each from Dorell Wright and Daniel Hackett but after staying on Khimki's heels the whole way, it was the home team that surged at the end, keeping the victory in Russia.

Gill's triple opened the scoring immediately while Brose waited for Hackett's jumper and layup to go ahead 3-4. Wright's 3 free throws and Augustine Rubit's inside bucket kept the visitors ahead despite Gill soaring for a fastbreak dunk. Hickman and Shved joined the fun with three-pointers at 12-12. Anderson switched hands on a layup for a three-point play, but Hickman matched him with one shot. Gill broke the tie and Taylor beat the shot clock from deep as Brose led 17-18. Shved and Stefan Markovic hit jumpers around another triple by Taylor, but it was Anderson beating the first-quarter buzzer to give Khimki a 23-21 edge after 10 minutes. Free throws by Nikos Zisis and Shved led to Brose's Maodo Lo driving for a new tie, 25-25. Khimki's Marko Todorovic got loose for a dunk that Hackett matched with free throws. Anderson's floating layup kept Khimki a step ahead, 29-27. Sergey Monia and Egor Vialtsev added a triple each to Khimki's tally while Patrick Heckmann and Wright scored for Brose at 35-31. Tyler Honeycutt's first basket of the season was a gem, switching hands to put back an offensive rebound. Markovic, who would leave the game for good with an ankle injury, and Taylor traded threes before Hickman returned with a layup as Brose stayed close, 40-38. Zizis passed back-door to Aleksej Nikolic but Shved answered with his own layup that finished the half 42-40 in Khimki's favor.

Shved found Thomas for an alley-oop dunk and a layup around Gill's next three-pointer as Khimki raced ahead 49-40 after the break. Zisis and Shved hit layups before Hickman hit one three-pointer and Hackett another to cut the difference to 51-48. Hackett added a layup and Hickman stole from Charles Jenkins for another as Bamberg completed a 2-12 run with a 51-52 lead. Shved downed free throws, Thomas hit a layup and Anderson buried a triple as another swing put Khimki up 58-52. Gill's breakaway layup was answered by Hickman's free throws as the third quarter ended 62-56. Taylor's long jumper got Brose closer to open the fourth, but Honeycutt fed Shved for a swish from the arc to make it 65-59. Hackett's jumper steadied Brose, then a Honeycutt fastbreak slam was met with a second-chance three by Hickman at 68-64. Shved came to Khimki's rescue with a cross-over triple and a layup as the lead reached 73-66. Next, Honeycutt fed Gill for a dunk and then Shved dialed up another three for the game's biggest lead, 78-66, with under 3 minutes left. Bryce got 2 points back for Brose, but Honeycutt matched him. Hickman didn't quit, though, driving for a layup and hitting a free throw that came with it for an 80-71 score with 1:17 to play. Anderson's layup answered then, making sure of the outcome and putting paid to its three-game skid to the delight of the home fans.

Head Coaches

BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Khimki Moscow Region

"Thomas Robinson is a big asset for us so he was a big loss. At the same time, Tyler Honeycutt came back and played today after two months. He was important and crucial tonight, even though he's not in shape. But he helped us a lot to win this game, which was very, very important for us after three losses in a row. We needed to win today. We had to adjust to the lineup of Bamberg with four guards and we had to play defense away from the basket. At the same time, they are a team with a very experienced backcourt. Zisis, Hickman, Hackett: they know how to play and they have EuroLeague experience. We are not that experienced and made some silly mistakes. But we are very happy to win this game. It was very, very important for our team right now."

TRINCHIERI, ANDREA

Brose Bamberg

"Congrats to Khimki. Alexey Shved was a killer. I believe that according to the circumstances we were solid. We played a good game. We condensed our mistakes in the beginning of the third quarter, and this cost us a little bit. Then we made a great effort to come back. Again we were in the game, then the big plays of Shved killed us. But I believe that my team played as a team, we are improving. It was a hard-played game. Khimki has a lot, a lot of talent, in a lot of one-of-one situations. We had lack of size with the big guys, and we don't have such a deep rotation, so to win this game we needed to be perfect. And we were not perfect."

Players

HONEYCUTT, TYLER

Khimki Moscow Region

"I felt good. Bamberg is a good team that had two big comebacks against Valencia and Barcelona. So they played hard all game; they are very well coached and execute their style well. We lost a few games but it's good about tonight. We didn’t have a lot of turnovers and passed the ball well; we shot pretty well from the three and started to work on defense, which was a key on our home court. After three practices, I had a feel of the court and tried to do small things that helped us win. I mean stops on defense and finding Anthony [Gill] in a couple of transitions, passes, giving some of the energy that I usually try to bring."

VIALTSEV, EGOR

Khimki Moscow Region

"We had a black streak of three painful defeats in the EuroLeague, and when you lose several games in a row, it’s a bit depressing, although our start was great. I think in such a tough season all teams will have a slump like this. Moreover, we are building a new team with a new coach and many new players. So it is inevitable, though our players are good. The team is not done in one month, and we're still not playing at one hundred percent, although we have a lot of potential. Thank God that we've won at home and returned to the winning way. Now, after a good victory over a great opponent, we are positive. Of course, we missed Tyler [Honeycutt] as he's aggressive and a good defensive player, who works great on rebounds and has excellent athletic abilities. Today he really helped us, although he's still far from his best form, and he will have to gain at an accelerated rate."

SHVED, ALEXEY

Khimki Moscow Region

"First of all, we watched Bamberg's previous games and saw they can be down by 30 points at halftime and come back and win games. For sure, this game was important for us because we lost three games in the EuroLeague and another in the VTB, so we needed this win to feel great and feel like we can play good. Bamberg is a tough team and any opponent in the EuroLeague is a great opportunity to play against them. They play hard and they shoot three-point shots with a good percentage. They played the whole game good. We played just a little better."

ZISIS, NIKOS

Brose Bamberg

"I think overall it wasn't enough, what we did. We knew that Khimki was desperate to get a win after five losses in a row in EuroLeague and VTB. I think they made some tough shots but also we let them score some easy ones in moments of the game that were very important for their confidence. Because when a team is in a losing streak, they're confidence is maybe so-and-so. We gave them some easy baskets that got them going. I think the most crucial point of the game was when we made a 10-0 run on the road in something like two minutes, and then we immediately gave them some baskets and they went up eight. We couldn't make all of those comebacks. So as I said, it wasn't such a bad game for us but it wasn't enough to win."